Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
I feel Pete glaring at me. Willing me to play the game.
But it’s like I can see Dakota standing on the other side of the glass, those piercing, clever eyes aimed at me. Like she’s daring me to be the man I used to be, the man who cared, who put the gamers before everything else. Including—especially—the bottom line.
I lean forward, planting my fists on the table. “We built this company from nothing,” I say. “Pete and I, two dropouts with big dreams and a garage with no AC. We made some mistakes—and that’s why you’re all here. You swept in when the time was right. You had none of the creativity, none of the vision, none of the follow-through. All you had, and all you have, is cash. That’s it. Most of you were born with it.”
I look around at their appalled faces, disgusted that they have the gall to stare like there’s something wrong with me.
“I’m sensing that you thought you could drag me here and act like you were in charge, like I work for you. But there’s a flaw in your logic.”
“Have you seen the stock price?” Jacquiline hisses.
“That’s the flaw,” I say. “I leave an event early, not because I’m sick, but because I just couldn’t give a single fuck about it. I leave—and the stock drops. What does that tell you? Does it indicate, for example, that the price of this company rests on your shoulders? Or does it say, very goddamn clearly, that without me, there is no company?”
It stuns me that they haven’t thought of this. They exchange glances as though learning some new physics theory.
“Here’s how it’s going to be,” I tell them. “I’ll be continuing to pay our creative teams, the lifeblood of this company, the money they deserve. This financial year, regardless of Empire’s Fall’s performance, I will take no bonus. And if the OT continues beyond what I expect, I’ll use my own salary to fund it. Beyond that, you’ll have to eat the cost.”
“But—”
I interrupt Jacquiline. “If you have problems, I suggest you stage a hostile takeover of the company. You all have much, much more experience with that kind of thing, I’m sure. Otherwise, get the fuck out of my way and let me do my job.” I’m about to leave when another thought occurs to me. “Or you could hold a vote of no confidence. Just remember, folks, that Pete and I still have majority voting power. So, unless you can persuade my best goddamn friend to betray me, good luck!”
Pete snorts. “Yeah, good luck,” he reiterates sarcastically.
I turn, striding from the room. Before I storm out, I hear Rajesh angrily tell Pete, “We need him, but you better keep him in line! No more media blunders!”
No more media blunders—like sleeping with a streamer and making her crawl around on the floor. Just imagine if that went public…
I return to my office. On the way there, I walk past Elena. She smiles strangely at me. “I hope you’re feeling better, sir,” she says, then ducks her head and keeps walking.
CHAPTER 17
DAKOTA
“Maybe you could just look at it as a fun experience,” Mara murmurs, blowing on her coffee.
We’re at a café we’ve been coming to since we were kids. It’s the weekend, and this week has been… more than difficult. I haven’t missed a single stream, but it’s like I’m split down the middle. Dakky, bright, carefree, and happy. And Dakota, anxiously checking my phone, reliving the intensity of the office, then the awkwardness of kneeling behind that cabinet—the loop refusing to close.
“True,” I agree, taking a sip of coffee. “It’s been almost a week, and he hasn’t texted me.”
“You did say to give you space…”
“True again,” I say with a sigh.
Mara noticed something was up at the barbecue. Our families hold one once or twice a month during the warmer months. It’s the sort of thing we never would’ve done when Dad was still in the picture. Not to mention being home always reminds us of Noah, but that wasn’t why I was so quiet and withdrawn. Mara saw me checking my phone and knew instantly what was going on.
“But you don’t want to do that,” Mara says, reading me like a book.
“He warned me we had to keep it a secret. He’s got a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Other women might find it fun, exciting, hiding, crawling around.”
“But you don’t,” Mara says. “So don’t worry about what other women would like.”
“It was so… amazing. That doesn’t even do it justice. It was like he already knew my body, every button to press, when to be fierce and when to be gentle. And when we were interrupted, I was… well, let’s just say I wasn’t standing. And let’s just say he was ready, like, right away.”